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Brussels drops lockdown exit plan after anger
from capitals
Governments force Commission into U-turn over fears it
was moving too quickly.
By LILI
BAYER 4/7/20, 5:19 PM CET Updated 4/8/20, 12:00 AM CET
The European Commission was forced by angry EU
governments on Tuesday to drop plans to present a "roadmap" for
ending the coronavirus lockdowns.
Governments
made clear that the plans from President Ursula von der Leyen's Commission
would send a dangerous signal when they are still urging millions of citizens
to stay at home to save lives.
The
Commission's embarrassing U-turn highlighted tensions over lockdowns between
the EU executive and member governments. Brussels has been keen to play a
coordinating role in managing the response to the coronavirus crisis after
countries initially imposed a chaotic array of unilateral measures.
But in
recent days countries such as Austria, the Czech Republic and Denmark have
already laid out plans to ease some restrictions. Other countries like Spain
and Italy, hit hardest by the virus that has killed thousands across the
Continent, have made clear that severe limits on movement won't end in the
immediate future.
The
Commission's chief spokesman, Eric Mamer, announced at his regular midday press
briefing that commissioners would on Wednesday "focus on the roadmap to
exit, which will be adopted tomorrow." Von der Leyen herself would brief
reporters on the plan, Mamer said.
Some
capitals, anxious to loosen tight restrictions on their citizens and revive
their economies even a little, are not waiting for a green light from Brussels.
Shortly
thereafter, a senior Commission official told POLITICO that the proposed exit
guidelines had already been circulated to national officials and "will be
published tomorrow."
But by
early evening, the Commission had backtracked, saying in an email that
commissioners would only hold "an orientation debate on a roadmap to exit
the restrictive measures" and that von der Leyen's news conference was
postponed until the plan had been adopted.
Adoption of
the plan has now been postponed until "after Easter," Mamer told
POLITICO in a phone call Tuesday evening.
Officials
said a group of EU member governments had told the Commission in no uncertain
terms that it was on the wrong track, at a time when many countries are still
struggling with the impact of the virus on their public health systems and
populations.
"We
criticized them for not being able to consult [on] this with member states in
an appropriate way," said one senior diplomat.
Another
diplomat summed up the confusion by sending a text message with a GIF of a
spinning head, noting that this was not the first Commission U-turn on the
issue of exit strategy.
The
Commission had pitched its plan as a coordination effort to stop countries
easing lockdown measures too quickly, as announcements by some capitals caused
irritation in Brussels.
“If
anything these restrictive measures have only [just] begun to show proper
results," said a Commission official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
“It is of
essence now that member states persist a few weeks more and then gradually
start to relax them,” the official said, adding that “exit steps need to be
smart and coordinated as much as possible throughout Europe.”
Capitals in
charge
Von der
Leyen promised last month the bloc would seek a coordinated exit strategy
following a videoconference of EU leaders. At the time she warned a failure to
coordinate would “undermine the effectiveness of the tough measures we took.”
But some
capitals, anxious to loosen tight restrictions on their citizens and revive
their economies even a little, are not waiting for a green light from Brussels.
Austrian
Chancellor Sebastian Kurz on Monday outlined a timetable to gradually ease his
country's lockdown, with nonessential shops allowed to reopen with strict
hygiene controls starting April 14. From May 1, all stores, shopping malls and
hairdressers will be allowed to reopen. But other services, as well as
restaurants and hotels, must stay shuttered until mid-May, with a final
decision to be taken in mid-April, Kurz said.
The Danish
government announced this week that it will reopen day care and elementary
schools on April 15.
Starting
April 9, the Czech Republic will allow some shops — including those that sell
building materials or bicycles — to reopen.
Commission
spokesman Mamer said on Tuesday that Austria and Denmark both informed the
Commission and other member countries about their moves.
“We do not
have yet a fully fledged analysis of these strategies, but what I can already
say is that we understand that these strategies are very gradual, will be
implemented step-by-step,” he said.
The
Commission's exit roadmap had been expected to include guidance on coordinating
a gradual rollback of public health measures and moves that impact the
functioning of the EU's internal market, according to a diplomat briefed on the
plans.
The senior
Commission official said it is "weird" for national governments to be
going ahead with their own easing of lockdowns when governments had asked
Brussels to develop a common strategy.
The
official acknowledged that it was ultimately up to member governments to judge
what to do in their individual countries. "In the end they’re responsible
to find the suitable timing for them as all member states are in different
stages of the pandemic progressing,” the official said. But the official also branded
governments pressing ahead on their own "not polite towards the EU.”
Florian
Eder and Paola Tamma contributed reporting.
IMAGENS DE OVOODOCORVO
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Reunião do
Eurogrupo suspensa após 16 horas de discussão sem acordo
Jornal Económico
com Lusa 08 Abril 2020, 08:19
A reunião do
Eurogrupo foi suspensa esta madrugada após 16 horas de discussões sem consenso
para um compromisso político sobre a resposta económica da Europa à crise
provocada pela pandemia covid-19, sendo retomada na quinta-feira, foi hoje
anunciado.
Cristina Bernardo
“Após 16 horas de
discussões, chegámos perto de um acordo, mas ainda não estamos lá”, pelo que
“suspendi o Eurogrupo e [a discussão] continua amanhã, quinta-feira”, informa
através da rede social Twitter o presidente do fórum de ministros das Finanças
da zona euro, o português Mário Centeno.
O responsável
garante que, ainda assim, o seu objetivo para a resposta europeia à crise
“permanece” o mesmo, visando criar a consenso para “uma forte rede de segurança
da União Europeia contra as consequências da covid-19, protegendo
trabalhadores, empresas e países, e compromissos com um plano significativo de
recuperação”.
Também através
daquela rede social, o porta-voz do Eurogrupo, Luís Rego, informou que, devido
à suspensão dos trabalhos, a conferência de imprensa marcada para esta manhã
foi adiada.
“Mais detalhes
serão anunciados posteriormente”, adianta.
A
videoconferência de hoje do Eurogrupo, conduzida desde Lisboa por Mário
Centeno, começou na terça-feira já com um atraso de uma hora, às 15:00 de
Lisboa, tendo sido interrompida cerca das 18:00 para uma pausa de uma hora.
Porém, essa
interrupção – durante a qual são feitos os tradicionais contactos bilaterais
para tentar alcançar consensos – foi sendo prolongada até às 22:00 de Lisboa,
até ao anúncio de que os trabalhos iriam entrar noite dentro.
Antes da reunião,
Centeno disse esperar que os ministros das Finanças europeus cheguem a acordo
sobre um pacote financeiro de emergência robusto para trabalhadores, empresas e
países, e que se comprometam claramente com um plano de recuperação de grande
envergadura.
Contudo, o
compromisso a que os ministros das Finanças estão ‘obrigados’ a chegar está a
revelar-se difícil de ‘fechar’, pois o ponto mais controverso da resposta, o
financiamento para os Estados-membros, que Centeno defende que deve ser
garantido através de linhas de crédito do Mecanismo Europeu de Estabilidade
(MEE), por ser a opção mais prática e “consensual”, continua a dividir os
Estados-membros.
De um lado,
vários países, encabeçados por Itália, defendem antes a emissão conjunta de
dívida – os chamados ‘eurobonds’ ou ‘coronabonds’ – e o primeiro-ministro
italiano, Giuseppe Conte, já reafirmou a sua oposição à solução em forma de
empréstimos do fundo de resgate da zona euro. Do outro, um conjunto de países,
com Holanda à cabeça, rejeita liminarmente a mutualização da dívida, e, mesmo
em relação às linhas de crédito do MEE, quer impor condições.
Mais pacíficas
serão as duas outras vertentes do pacote de emergência que o presidente do Eurogrupo
espera ‘fechar’ nesta reunião, para apresentar aos chefes de Estado e de
Governo da UE: o programa de 100 mil milhões de euros proposto pela Comissão
Europeia para financiar regimes de proteção de emprego e uma garantia de 200
mil milhões de euros do Banco Europeu de Investimento para apoiar as empresas
em dificuldades, especialmente as pequenas e médias empresas.
Em pouco mais de
um mês, esta é a quarta reunião por videoconferência dos ministros das Finanças
europeus para tentar acordar uma resposta comum à crise do novo coronavírus,
sendo que desta feita é-lhes ‘exigido’ um compromisso, para ser apresentado aos
líderes europeus.
No último
Conselho Europeu por videoconferência, realizado em 26 de março, os chefes de
Estado e de Governo da União Europeia, após uma longa e tensa discussão,
mandataram o Eurogrupo para apresentar, no prazo de duas semanas, propostas
concretas sobre como enfrentar as consequências socioeconómicas da pandemia,
que “tenham em conta a natureza sem precedentes do choque de covid-19”, que
afeta as economias de todos os Estados-membros.
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Eurogroup talks to save EU economy gridlocked
over credit lines, corona bonds
Without an agreement on coordinated action,
governments will have to borrow money from the markets to cushion the economic
fallout from the pandemic.
By BJARKE
SMITH-MEYER 4/8/20, 3:00 AM CET Updated 4/8/20, 3:02 AM CET
EU finance
ministers are at loggerheads after hours of late-night negotiations over common
initiatives they could introduce to stop the coronavirus from obliterating the
bloc’s economy.
Factions
led by Italy and the Netherlands clashed during Tuesday’s online Eurogroup
meeting over conditions for credit lines from the eurozone’s bailout fund and
the idea of pooling debt, officials on the call told POLITICO.
Eurogroup
discussions began at around 4:30 p.m. over videoconference and were still
ongoing in the early hours of Wednesday morning.
Without an
agreement on coordinated action, governments will be left to their own devices
and have to borrow money from the markets to cushion the economic fallout —
threatening a debt crisis.
Governments
have collectively pledged hundreds of billions of euros to keep their national
economies afloat.
Eurogroup
President Mário Centeno, who is in charge of mediating the talks, is scheduled
to hold a press conference 10 a.m. Wednesday to present ministers’ conclusions.
Ministers
are aiming to agree on at least three initiatives that would help governments
prevent mass bankruptcies and spur economic recovery once countries end their
lockdowns, introduced to stop the spread of the pandemic.
One of
those initiatives is the European Commission’s proposed temporary unemployment
reinsurance plan, worth €100 billion. The cash pot would support public
programs that allow companies to reduce working hours and compensate their
employees for any lost income.
The second
comes from the European Investment Bank, which has pitched a €200 billion fund
that can issue cheap loans to EU companies that are starved of cash.
Finally,
there's the eurozone’s bailout fund, known as the European Stability Mechanism
(ESM), from which any country that uses the common currency could draw a credit
line worth 2 percent of its economic output — under certain conditions.
All
ministers need to agree on the initiatives before they package them in a
statement to send to country leaders for final approval. But differences
persist, the officials said.
Dividing
lines
Rome is
determined to lighten, or even drop, the ESM credit lines conditions. The
Dutch, backed by Austria and Finland, disagree.
The Hague
is adamant that governments using the credit lines must promise to reserve the
money for coronavirus health care and economic costs. States must also commit
to ensuring their finances look healthy in the long-term.
The latter
condition rings alarm bells in Italy, which fears any talk of fiscal
surveillance could spook international investors and push up borrowing costs.
Another
disagreement is over the idea of issuing EU corona bonds to finance the bloc's
recovery. Italy is fighting to include the prospect of issuing joint debt in
the Eurogroup statement to leaders.
But any
suggestion of pooling debt is too much for the Dutch and Germans, who fear
they’ll ultimately be left holding the bill if southern countries go broke.
France had
tried to cool any talk of corona bonds by proposing a one-off fund that could
raise debt and issue loans to governments. That’s still too controversial to
consider for now, the officials said.
Authors:
Bjarke Smith-Meyer
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